From Pete Walton
West Memphis, AR – (May 29, 2015) – The United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters www.uscsracing.com concludes its highly competitive 10th annual USCS Sprint Speed Week at historic Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas on this Saturday,(May 30th ) at 7:30 pm. The race is entitled as the 9th Annual “Rumble at the River” at the 1/4-mile high-banked gumbo clay oval.
The race will be the final round of a five race over eight day mini-series at tracks located in a close proximity to one another in the Mid-South area. This event is also set to be race number eight on the season for the nationally touring USCS sprint car drivers.
The USCS Sprint Speedweek 2015 Round One event on Saturday night at Jackson Motor Speedway in Jackson, Mississippi was won by 2013 USCS National Champion, Derek Hagar from nearby Marion, Arkansas who is entered for Thursday’s event. Hagar defeated a stellar 33 car field his first visit of the 2015 season to the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane and his 30th career USCS victory.
The Sunday, May 24th event at Greenville Speedway (Greenville, MS) was rained-out as was the Thursday night May 28th event at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Alabama for the second straight year. The Round Four event at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Mississippi is set for Friday, May29th.
The Riverside International Speedway USCS event is expected to draw a large field of winged sprint car drivers. Drivers from at eleven states entered the first event on Saturday, May 23rd at Jackson Motor Speedway (Jackson, MS) from as far away as North Carolina and Washington State.
The 2014 USCS Sprint Speedweek events averaged 28 cars per event with 30 entering at Riverside International Speedway for the finale event in 2014. There’s no reason to believe Saturday, May 30th event will have any less participation.
Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee and young-gun Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte, North Carolina are tied for the lead in the series National point standings coming into Riverside International Speedway’s Thursday night event after the first six events. Morgan Turpen who is the Nation’s top-ranked female sprint car driver is in third place in the National standings just 38 points behind Gray and Riggins after finishing in the runner-up spot in 2014. Eric Riggins, Jr. has three wins in the series first six events. Gray has not won yet in 2014 but his finishes have been good enough to keep him at the top of the standings.
Sixteen Year-old Marco Island Rookie of the Year contender, Nicholas Snyder is in fourth place in the standings and scored a career-first win at Travelers Rest Speedway on May 8th. Past USCS regional series Champion, Johnny bridges from Cherryville, North Carolina rounds out the top five drivers in the National standings.
An action packed program awaits fans as the USCS presented by K&N Filters sprint car racing format will include test and tune hot laps followed by the evening’s first sprint car race, the Hoosier Speed Dash that showcases the top six cars from the previous USCS main event in an edge-of-your-seat six-car shootout. Next up will be qualifying heat races followed by Last Chance/B-Main race(s). The evening’s grand finale will be the 9th Annual 30-lap USCS “Rumble at the River” winged sprint car A-main event.
The race will award USCS presented by K& Filters National Championship points as well as USCS Mid-South Thunder regional series Championship points. The USCS Mid-South Thunder regional series primarily consists of races in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and West Tennessee.
Just a few of the noted drivers who are entered include eleven-time and defending USCS National Champion, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee plus the 2012 National Champion, Tim Crawley from Benton, Arkansas. Female racer Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee. Derek Hagar is the recent USCS Sprint Speedweek wins leader with 4 for 5 over the past two seasons so far. He won three of the four mini-series events held during 2014 season. Eric Riggins, Je. From Charlotte, North Carolina is also entered and has won three out of the first six USCS sprint car contests in 2015.
Also on the racing program are several of Riverside’s weekly Saturday night racing divisions including the Limited Late Models, Riverside Stock Cars, Open Wheel Modifieds and the popular 305 Winged Sprint Cars.
For more information on Riverside International Speedway visit www.riversideinternationalspeedway.com The office number is 901-840-1970 and the race day phone number is 870-735-8071. For more information on the USCS Speed Week 2015 including the full 2013 schedule, please visit www.uscsracing.com . Call the USCS Office at 770-865-6097.